HOUSING: A surprisingly strong housing report helped push the stock market mostly higher Wednesday. The government said builders broke ground on building new single-family houses and apartments in September at the fastest pace since July 2008.
A SQUEAKER: After spending most of the trading day lower, the Dow edged up 5.22 points to close at 13,557, barely managing its fourth straight day of gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.99 to 1,460.91.
BIG BLUES: IBM's stock sank after its results missed Wall Street's expectations. Without IBM's drop, the Dow would have been 79 points higher.
